It’s almost inconceivable what we would do without all this polar summer daylight, there is simply too much to be done! From the moment our eyes open in the morning we are constantly absorbing the barely believable beauty all around us. The sun, already high above, proudly illuminates a landscape so picturesque it seems to seems to clash with reality. Snow capped mountainous peaks tower around us on all sides, like the grandest amphitheater on the planet. Icebergs of gleaming white and glowing blue fill the bays and straits in a thousand different forms. Big and small, flat or tall, smooth and jagged, each block of frozen ice, either formed in the sea or from a glacier they set the scene for our morning adventures from National Geographic Explorer. Despite the blue skies and sun beating down and reflecting off white snow, boots and coats remain the height of fashion. Kayaks are launched and to intersperse some variety of color at water level, yellow slivers gliding amongst floating objects of every shape. The immediate serenity of being (willingly) adrift is almost palpable, the quiet calm punctuated with gentle paddle strokes is utterly peaceful, regardless if it is your first time kayaking or your hundredth. With sea level under control, and supervised by our trusty Zodiacs, it is up to the orange jackets take the high ground.
Zig-zagging trails of footprints lead seemingly ever upwards, the occasional cone left as a marker to tell you you’re on the right track, and the promise that the exertion will all be worth it when you get to the top. Even with all the briefings and anticipation it never ceases to amaze after trudging up a thousand-foot incline to actually see a colony of penguins that have stubbornly decided that this will be their home. Here they congregate and call out to each other, courting their companion for the season and making their nests with small amount of materials available. At this point in the season there is a continuous cycle of stealing precious rocks and stones from neighboring nests. They will make this ascent over a hundred times during the summer, returning to feed their chicks with hard-caught food, climbing back up these precarious slopes even humans find difficult, all on legs a fraction of the size. One can only infer it is worth it is as worth if for them as it is for us, though for very different reasons, as they gain potential evolutionary success, we just get a breathtaking view and a glimpse at what else lies ahead of us of this on this amazing continent.
